Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Our series of lunches and dinners is one of the highlights of our
year, giving us a chance not only to showcase our wines, but also to
share the peace and beauty of Waterfall Bay, Michael Seresin's
Marlborough home.

The building we use as a restaurant
was once a boat shed, but has been decorated and adapted to provide the
perfect venue for this event. Tucked into the bush, with cheeky wekas
ready to pounce on any unguarded food at the kitchen door, it is a
secluded and unique spot and an easy place with which to fall in love.

Nic Poelaert

Our chosen chefs often prepare incredible and complex dishes for our
guests, but at the heart of Waterfall Bay is true simplicity - the
simplicity of a meal and wine shared, of conversation and a convivial
atmosphere, of indulging the senses and having a pleasurable time in
good company.

If you would like to join us in February
2015, there are still tickets available. Our chef this year is Nic
Poelaert, currently head chef at Brooks Melbourne and a Frenchman with a
passion for small producers and local ingredients, as well as a flair
for design!

Tickets are $300, including return boat travel from Picton to Waterfall Bay and a five course menu with matching wines.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Sometimes, however hard you try and however much you work with nature and with the seasons, sometimes things just don’t work out as you imagine. Sometimes you are, quite simply, at the mercy of the elements.

Up towards the top of our Raupo Vineyard - mercifully frostfree

This season so far has been particularly and peculiarly tough going, with a huge water deficit across the region due to the driest July-October in 85 years, consistently high winds and a long and drawn out frost season.

Frost is the enemy of young shoots and developing flowers on the vine, and all wine producers work hard to mitigate the effects of below freezing temperatures after bud burst. To this end, they use whatever tools are at their disposal, be they frost fans, heat pots, irrigation or helicopters. Without these tools, the frost can kill the tender new growth and prevent the vine from developing properly or producing fruit. When this happens, it can be devastating, as it will not only effect the current year, but most likely the following one also. It is a bitter pill swallow.

Frost burned vines

Our policy of pruning late usually ensures we miss the damage that can be caused by early frost events, and a combination of valerian tea, frost fans and helicopters had meant that we had avoided too much damage during most of the cold periods this season. However, sadly a vicious and completely unforecast frost hit our Raupo vineyard in the Omaka Valley on the morning of 20th November and has left us facing a scene of partial devastation. Once flourishing and growing vines have been left stunted and browned (frost-burned) across large swathes of the vineyard, creating a visible pattern of destruction that exactly maps the movement of the cold air across the land during that night. It is quite a sight to behold.

Happily around 50% of the vineyard is unaffected, either due to the angles of the slopes where the vines are planted or indeed because parts are protected by frost fans – and mercifully this includes our best Pinot and Chardonnay sites. Naturally we would love the whole vineyard to be protected, but alas at $55K per frost fan, they are not an easy thing to budget for in harder times and since the GFC, cost savings have been part and parcel of business for everyone in the wine industry.

It is a painful thing to look at so many vines in such an unhappy condition, but we remain philosophical. There was nothing we could really have done to avoid this situation, and so we have to just have to move on. While we know that the majority of the damaged vines will not now produce fruit for the 2015 vintage, we will be working hard with the vine nonetheless, shoot thinning, re-pruning and managing them carefully to ensure that there is as little impact on their fruitfulness in 2016 as possible.

Tuesday, December 2, 2014

As people who live and work on the land, we are aware of the continuous change and development there is in our farm and estate across the seasons. At this, the start of summer, everything is growing and changing: buds burst, shoots rise, flowers form; lambs begin to grow fat on the pastureland; birds sing in the skies above the vines and everything is gathering itself for the summer.

It somehow seems right then, at this time of growth and development in our land that we should be growing our team at the same time. To that end therefore we are very pleased to welcome Dianne Marshall as our Global Sales Manager.

Dianne joins us from a role with another wine producer in Australia, and comes with a wealth of ideas, experience and enthuasiasm. We are very much looking forward to working with her and getting to know her over the coming months and years.

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

As you know, while we are primarily a vineyard, we also have many other aspects to what makes us "us" and one of the most important ones is the fact that we also grow a lot of other crops. This spring has brought us a beautiful crop of artichokes. These gorgeous globes are beautiful tripped, steamed, dismembered and dipped in our olive oil and sea salt flakes, but preserved artichokes also bring a delicious taste of spring to meals later in the season.

Marcia, our semi-resident cook and culinary genius, popped in yesterday to work her magic on our excess artichokes and we're looking forward to tasting the fruits of her labour one day...

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Biodynamics is a system and philosophy of farming
that recognises the soil and entire farm as a living organism. The respect for and care of the soil plays a
prominent role. The biodynamic preparations form the cornerstone of biodynamic activity,
and create balance and health in our soils and plants.

We use
a range of eight preparations within our farm and vineyards. One of the most
important of these is Preparation 500. This is made whencows’ manure is buried inside a cow’s horn over winter, and then stirred
into rainwater at body temperature to form a vortex before being applied to the
vineyard by hand. This stimulates soil bacteria and fungi, improving soil
structure and microbiological activity.

Three of our vineyard interns have been helping us
make this and spread it across our entire vineyard…

David Wright, Farnham, UK

The
digging up and application of preparation 500 marks the rejuvenation of life in
the land and the beginning of a new growth cycle. For me it represents the
intentions of the human custodians of the land to be aware of, and understand,
the rhythms of nature to manage it productively. Unearthing the horns was a
very thorough and insightful process and the myriad life forms that came up with
them sparked many thoughtful discussions. Everyone that makes their living from
Seresin vineyards was involved in the stirring and broadcasting of the 500.
Together we covered every inch of every property, walking the flats, hills,
creeks and pastures from angles I hadn’t seen before. This gave me a new
perspective that cannot be gained from the cab of a tractor, a focus on the
details that only comes when you give it a chance. I came away feeling good
about the season ahead and confident that I had conveyed this positive message
to the land.

Rose Capriola, California

My very
first 500 experience proved to be an energizing one for the body, mind, and
soul. As we stood and stirred wilfully,
I couldn’t help but notice the beautiful diversity of our participants, all
brought together to inoculate the land with the spirit of biodynamics. We flowed as a group through the vines,
spreading our 500 and cow pat pit mixture with the flicks of our wrists,
gaining momentum as we walked. Smiles
dawned on faces and the enjoyment was palpable.
Through this experience I was again reminded of the value of the ‘we’ in
biodynamics and of the wonderful impact our community can have on the land that
we tend to joyfully.

Charlotte Javelle, Saint-Etienne, France

Even
after 9 months at Seresin I’m still impressed by people’s involvement. The 500 experience
was a great lesson in openness and sharing. Barrels,
sticks, water, Preparation 500… everything needs to be ready for the “ceremony”.
Everybody gave a little bit of himself stirring the preparation during one hour
and trying to make the best vortex ever! Even the children participated with
keen interest and happiness. Then, buckets and brushes in hand, the preparation
was sprayed across all of the property.

Laughing
and singing animated these afternoons. It’s amazing how this act can combine a
range of different nationalities, ages and cultures. Maybe we should use cow
poo and water everywhere in this world to bring more respect, peace and
well-being! I really think that the land is able to feel and memorise all the
love, all the human implication and all the energy brought by people. Thereby
it can give us the best quality in our grapes and olives.

Monday, October 20, 2014

At Seresin, we like to do things a little differently, which is why - when you visit - you will find yourself driving through native plantings and olive groves, and dodging pukekos and guinea fowl, to reach our Cellar Door and offices. And, should you take a vineyard tour, you'd not only see our organically and biodynamically managed vineyards, but also our gardens, orchards, jersey cows, goats, chickens, pigs, beehives and working Clydesdale horses. Yes, we grow grapes and make wine, but we are far more than simply a vineyard: we are a farm, an estate, a bio-diverse ecosystem and a family.

Once a year, in the summer, we host our Waterfall Bay dinner series at our occasional restaurant in the Marlborough Sounds, as a way of sharing some of this Seresin life. We work with an international chef to create a menu that showcases not only our wines, but also some of the produce from the estate.

This year we are delighted to be welcoming Nic Poelaert from Brooks Restaurant in Melbourne to join our team from February 12th-15th. Born and raised in France, Nic trained and worked under numerous acclaimed chefs at notable establishments, including Restaurant Gordon Ramsay in London and Restaurant Michel Bras in France - both Michelin starred. In Melbourne, he opened the multi-award winning Embrasse restaurant, which he owned and managed for four years before deciding that change was needed. Now head chef at Brooks in Melbourne, he works directly with small producers to create dishes that are seasonal, respectful of the producers and the ingredient, as well as adventurous in terms of flavour, texture and appearance.

Nic is looking forward to the prospect of working with our team to create a menu that reflects Seresin and all that makes us unique, and we are looking forward to making him part of our family.

Waterfall Bay tickets are now available to purchase, and we would love to have you join us for our celebration of summer, Seresin, good food, good wine and good company.

The ticket price of $300 is inclusive of a five course degustation menu with matching wines, and the boat journey across the Sounds to the tranquil surroundings of Waterfall Bay itself.

The dinners run from 12th-15th February:

12th February – Thursday Dinner

13th February – Friday Lunch

13th February – Friday Dinner

14th February – Saturday Dinner

15th February – Sunday Lunch

15th February – Sunday Dinner

More information and ability to book is online and if you require more information or would prefer to book over
the phone, please call 03 572 9408 or email at wfbdinners@seresin.co.nz .

Friday, May 30, 2014

Minimal frost in Spring 2013. Excellent early season canopy
growth with minimal inputs required. Perfect flowering conditions in 2013 and
2014, resulting in good bunch numbers and berry set. The season by the summer
solstice was 7-10 days ahead of average.
Cool conditions post berry set and up to veraison. Dry and warm ripening
with rapid veraison. Welcome sunshine
with mild and stable ripening conditions until the end of the first week in
April. Heavy rain mid April.

Growing

Observant and considered viticulture practices have
delivered fruit suitable for all our wine-making and market requirements.
Considerable attention was paid to cropping levels from all blocks. Fruit was
disease free plus very close to planned and forecast yields. 2014 has been a
great testimony to quality biodynamic agriculture. Thick skins on berries, well
-spaced and open bunches, moderate open canopies, under-vine cover-crops, low
bird pressure all had a part to play in delivering some tasty fruit in 2014.

Harvest

Harvest began with a small pick for sparkling base from the
Leopold block at Raupo on the 18th of March. Vintage began in
earnest from the 25th of March with Pinots from Osip. Balanced, ripe
fruit at lower brix has been our goal for many years and is gradually becoming
the norm. Challenging conditions from
the 8th of April with persistent rainfall. The majority of fruit had been harvested by
this time. Taking advantage of clear weather windows we were able to have all
of our fruit harvested by the 15th of April. Due to frenetic
activity in the region towards the end of harvest we opted to handpick a
portion of the MOMO Sauvignon Blanc this year. The region was hit by a deluge
of 50mm+ beginning on the 16th. Around 150mm of rain falling regionally in April,
against a long term average of 47mm. , with 129mm at Raupo and 187mm at Home.
With the majority of fruit coming from Raupo, this was a real blessing.

Highlights

All in all, a year where we have had a very pleasing result
at Seresin. After five years of training and experimentation using working
horses for applying compost teas and biodynamic preparations via our custom-made
ground drive spray-unit we are now covering the entire Home vineyard and olive
groves with horse-drawn applications. This is an area in excess of 50
hectares. In 2014, we also brought our
hand-harvested fruit to the winery with a special horse drawn trailer.

The flowering of 2014 matched that of the previous year and
set up the bunch architecture magnificently. Open large bunches and even berry
size resulted in a heavy crop that was seen across all varieties. Verasion
happened fast, as the season promised a lot, with a steady sunny and dry summer
progressing well, but without the temperatures getting too high. A lot of fruit
thinning and grading was required to achieve our desired yield and resultant
quality. The general consensus was that there was going to be an early harvest,
as the sunshine just kept coming.

The predicted early season failed to eventuate and we started
harvesting only a couple of days earlier than the norm by picking some
sparkling wine base on 18th March. It was the Pinot Noir from the Osip
block in Raupo Creek Vineyard that then called us, with the table wine harvest
starting on 25th March. The low-yielding clay slope produced the
finest and most even bunches to date, partly due to the perfect flowering,
partly to do with vine age increasing, but a lot to do with the vineyard health
and management. The even bunches with even berries promise to provide Sun and
Moon, Rachel and Raupo Pinots with a finesse that we hope to match with the power the vineyard
delivers.

Ripeness of the white varieties was surprising, with the
flavours developing in the fruit, but the sugar ripeness suggesting a much less
ripe sample. It became clear quite early that we were going to be picking based
more on acidity ripeness than on achieving a particular sugar level.

On April 8th although not forecast, 3 small
cyclonic weather patterns surrounded the Cook Strait and held each other there
for a week or two. The result was a pattern of regular rain for the rest of the
month. Fortunately we had harvested the majority of our fruit before this
event, and we were able to pick the remainder during the dry periods, finishing
harvest on the 15th April.

The estate has developed amazing resilience under the
biodynamic farming system, and this year was the perfect advertisement for this
philosophy. The fruit that was harvested from our own estate vineyards was 100%
clean – this is due to the resilience and particularly the thickness of the
skins developed by our farming methods. A
special mention is deserved for the Chardonnay from Raupo this year. Easily the
best crop in terms of quality and yield that has come from our estate.

Having had the chance to taste the wines after fermentation,
the picture of the harvest is more clear. The Pinot Noirs are showing a
slightly lighter colour than in 2013, but are structurally exciting, with the
finesse and balance we wish for each year. The white wines across the board are
showing some real delicacy and poise for such immature wines, and of course the
alcohols are lower due to the reduced sugar in the grapes – a gift for us as we
strive to reduce the alcoholic presence in our wines generally.

From the beginning, the growing season 2014 promised a lot,
and delivered. A worrying weather pattern couldn’t take the shine off the year,
and for once the vintage has pleased the winemaker, farmer and accountant. A
very unusual occurrence.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

While grapevines and olive trees do not require pollination by
bees for fruit production, our consideration of a living landscape embraces
bio-diversity.

This includes the meadow-like floral diversity between our vines and olives, as well as our farming of extensive vegetable and native plantings, orchards and pastureland. In all of these, life thrives - as do our vines and olive trees.

Bees are considered as nature’s messengers, providing
balance, order and harmony between all living things and we are therefore more than happy to encourage their presence and their prosperity.

Our hives require some
minimal maintenance, but we share the honey in such a way that we do not need to
provide supplementary feeding. The by-product of the service the bees provide
to our land was over 50kg of honey that we were able to harvest recently.

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

It's not just about growing grapes here at Seresin; we see ourselves as farm, not simply a vineyard:

At Seresin, vegetables are planted in amongst the vines and we
grow large volumes of garlic, shallots, beans, potatoes, corn and many other
interesting things.

This integrated farming
philosophy means that we treat the farm as a reflection of the whole
dining table, rather than focusing just on the wine glass.

In many cultures wine is regarded as a
food and so we see no separation in growing many different foods on our land. The food we grow is distributed to our staff, who are all passionate consumers of
organic produce, plus we are able to use it when entertaining and also in our occasional
restaurant at Waterfall Bay.

Midsummer in the vineyards at Seresin Estate and we have
just cut and gathered our hay crop. Over 2000 small bales have been cut from
our meadows and areas surrounding the vines. About 200 bales will be used as
supplementary feed for our animals, with the balance forming a vital ingredient
for our compost making.

Compost is the primary form of adding balanced
nutrition to our land. It is comprised of 25% grape waste, 25% hay, 25%
wood-chips from our willow trees, 20% mulched woody weeds and grasses, and the balance being manure from our own herd of cows.

After the summer solstice our vines' canopies have almost
reached their full height. After weeks of shoot-thinning and wire lifting, we
have just begun hand leaf plucking. The aim is to give the grapes as much
ventilation as possible so that they can fully ripen, with minimal chance of
late season bunch rot. It is also important to leave a protective layer of
leaf to provide shelter from the harsh sun and any rain that falls.

Vintage 2014 is slightly ahead of normal and, with wonderful
growing conditions, we have vibrant healthy canopies and an excellent crop. It is still too early to make a prediction as to the vintage's final outcome, but at
this stage all the elements are in place for the harvest of some wonderful
fruit.

Monday, January 6, 2014

It's been a little while since this blog was updated, but we're turning over a new leaf (which makes a change from plucking them I suppose) and will be here a lot more this year with our news, views and updates.

We're looking forward to a great year ahead and are keeping ourselves busy with a lot of exciting new projects in the vineyard and the winery, so watch this space for more information about these. Vintage is also always on our minds of course, and 2014 is looking very promising; plenty of good quality fruit on the vines and all going according to plan thus far. More on this soon...

First on our calendar though is our series of dinners and lunches at our occasional restaurant in Waterfall Bay between 6th and 9th of February. Anna Hansen, owner of The Modern Pantry in London is joining us to prepare what promises to be a delicious five course menu, based around local produce and designed to complement our wines. More information about the dinners can be found online or via our facebook page, and if you'd like to book you can call +64 3 572 9408.

In the meantime, let us wish you all the very best for the coming year.